


let's take it nice and easy

by kyouyaed



Series: lay that pistol down, babe [4]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Fallout 4 AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 16:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8760466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyouyaed/pseuds/kyouyaed
Summary: **“Faraday!” The Raider's angry roar startled the restaurant into silence and Faraday took a wide step back, knocking down his chair as he went. “You cheating rat bastard!”
  Faraday clicked his tongue. “I ain't no rat,” he argued.
One of these days, his sticky fingers are going to get Joshua Faraday killed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is unedited. i will edit when i can. please, enjoy!

The din of the small restaurant almost echoed in Faraday's ears. A bead of sweat was trickling down his temple, just shy of getting in his eye, and there was a small, tense twitch in his cheek. Across from him, a particularly angry Raider was staring him down through tinted goggles, a gas mask hiding the lower half of his face though Faraday could guess he was scowling.

“All in,” the Raider grumbled, and Faraday dropped his eyes to his cards. They were shit, and if this guy was going all in... Faraday raked his eyes over the pot and his stomach twisted. That was too much loot to simply _fold_. Or, worse yet, to play his cards or play the board and be royally fucked. “Well?” snapped the Raider, and Faraday met his gaze for a few seconds before another drop of sweat rolled into his eye and he had to look away to rub at it. “You in, _Faraday_?” The Raider spat his name like it was disgusting on his tongue, and Faraday frowned and picked at the corner of one of his cards.

He could cheat. He licked his bottom lip and hummed. How easy would it be to switch out one of his cards? He would settle for a straight if his three of clubs was a nine of _anything_ , but a straight _flush_ would make his day. Could he, though...? Faraday clicked his tongue and tapped his cards so they were laying flat on top of one another.

“Some time today,” the Raider snarled, and Faraday exhaled between his teeth, scowling at the Raider.

“Don't _rush_ me,” Faraday warned, tapping his cards against the table. He brought them up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the card on the bottom, ignoring the Raider's loud and drawn out huff as he did so. When Faraday pulled the cards back, the bottom card was completely different and he smirked. “All in,” he said coolly, pushing all of his caps to the pile. The Raider cleared his throat and both of them flipped their cards.

“Fuck!” shouted the Raider, throwing his cards toward the pile of caps and goods, while Faraday smirked at the straight flush he'd slapped down. The bright red eight and nine of diamonds seemed to glow in the low restaurant lighting and Faraday reached passed them to pull the pile of caps toward him. He chuckled through his teeth and flashed a smug grin up at the Raider.

“Don't be a sore loser, huh?” taunted the man before he set his gaze back on the caps. He stood and began stuffing caps and shiny silver and gold items in various pockets and pouches that decorated his person. It took him less than a minute, but when he was done he threw his hands triumphantly in the air. “That's how ya play the game. Shake on it?” He nodded to the Raider who muttered something under his breath but offered out his hand anyway. Faraday grinned and slapped his hand harshly into the other man's. Then, much to Faraday's chagrin, the three of clubs that had been up his sleeve slipped out, no doubt jarred out of place by the caps stashing and the violent slap. “Oh.”

For a moment, neither he nor the Raider said anything. Both stood in silence as the three of clubs floated to the empty table.

“ _Faraday_!” The Raider's angry roar startled the restaurant into silence and Faraday took a wide step back, knocking down his chair as he went. “You cheating rat _bastard_!”

Faraday clicked his tongue. “I ain't no _rat_ ,” he argued. “Cheating?” He patted one of his pockets. “Sure. Bastard? Maybe. But a rat? I-” he cut himself off with a yelp when the Raider pulled out his pistol and cocked it.

“Gimme my _caps_ ,” he ordered, and Faraday frowned, his hand dropping down to one of his own guns. The Raider's grip twitched around his gun and Faraday held his breath, wondering how fast he could whip out his own gun and shoot. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth in spite of himself; it had been a long time since he'd had a chance to truly test his skills like this.

In a calm exhale, Faraday's gun was out and the Raider's gun was shot from his hand with a yowl that sounded suspiciously like Faraday's name.

“My caps,” Faraday said cheerfully, twisting to fire a shot at a different Raider who pulled their gun out. “I'll be leavin' with them. Try an' stop me, yeah?”

The Raider with the gas mask snarled loudly. “You _are_ a thief!” he shouted. “The rumors are true about you! Thief! Synth! Monster!”

His words seemed to jerk the rest of the people in the restaurant out of their stunned silence because chaos erupted around them. Faraday grimaced as they shouted at him and guns were drawn. His three of clubs just had to fall out, didn't it? He edged a bit to the left and flinched as a gunshot whizzed past him, barely missing. Well, shit.

“No,” shouted the gas masked Raider, “ _I_ get to kill him! No one else!”

“He cheated me too!” screamed another Raider. Faraday flinched when another gunshot went off and then another, and then chaos consumed the restaurant in a few short minutes. The Raiders he'd cheated were gone and Faraday sighed in relief, ducking low and moving toward the exit. Most people were too busy fighting, and those who did see him were quickly engaged by others scrambling to kill the supposed Synth. He slipped out without being noticed and quickly ducked down a side street, weaving his way through the decrepit town as quickly as possible to get out and get going. It was a long walk to Goodneighbor, where he kept a permanent residence to store most of his junk to sell later and he wanted to get there before the word of his being in this town carried down the road.

He was almost home free, the road out of the town in sight, when he heard the careful cocking of a gun behind him.

“Sh- _ee_ -it,” cursed Faraday, slowly raising his hands in the air.

“Thought you could escape?” the muffled, angry voice of the Raider he'd cheated came, and Faraday audibly swallowed. “Don't move.” Faraday closed his eyes and tensed as the Raider's footsteps crunched gravel, closer and closer until the cold metal of his gun bumped against Faraday's head. “Killin' you will do the rest o' the world some goddamn good.”

“Good?” laughed Faraday. “In _this_ world? What have you been smokin' and where can I buy some?”

The Raider snarled. “Laugh it up, Faraday. It'll be your last chance.”

Faraday continued to laugh, tense as he was. If this Raider thought killing him would do any kind of good, Faraday wanted to die laughing. Faraday was truly one of the lesser evils that walked the Commonwealth, and everyone should have felt blessed to encounter him, and not a Courser or a band of Super Mutants. Well, without him they might have to experience worse things.

“You would kill a man with his back turned?”

That voice was new. Faraday's laughs faded as he struggled to compose himself in the face of a newcomer he couldn't even see. The speaker sounded calm and confident, and Faraday hoped they were on his side.

“Kill a _Synth_ , an' it don't matter if I kill one of those things face to face or not,” the Raider grumbled, and the newcomer clicked their tongue and their gun. Faraday so badly wanted to turn around and watch the gun fight that was no doubt going to ensue, but the Raider's gun was still snug against the back of his head and he didn't _actually_ want to die if he could help it.

The newcomer chuckled. “Well now, I may not know this _man_ ,” Faraday liked how they emphasized that word, “but I do think anyone deserves an honorable death. Let the man turn around, don't be a coward.”

Faraday's breath caught as he waited for the Raider's decision. For a few moments, Faraday worried he would die with a gunshot to the back of the head but then, with a sigh, the Raider withdrew his gun from Faraday's skull. The Raider's feet shuffled on the gravel and Faraday hesitantly turned around to face both of the speakers. He set his eyes on the newcomer immediately, wanting to memorize the face of his savior so, if he died, his spirit could protect the person who tried to give him life.

“There, see,” the other person spoke with a smile, “that wasn't so hard, was it? Cowardice didn't suit you, anyway.”

The Raider scowled and lifted up his arm again to point his gun between Faraday's eyes and he didn't respond to being antagonized by the stranger.

“You know,” the person said again, taking clean crisp steps forward until he came to a stop next to the Raider. He appraised Faraday for a moment before continuing, addressing the Raider, “Generally you answer when someone speaks to you.”

“He's gonna die anyway,” the Raider snapped. “Why waste time talking about it?”

Faraday swallowed and looked between the two, not sure at all what was happening or if he was going to walk away alive. His savior nodded thoughtfully.

“True. I'll tell you why,” he said. In one swift motion, he pulled out his own gun and landed a bullet cleanly between the Raider's eyes. Faraday leaped away in surprise and the Raider's corpse crumbled. The man calmly twirled his gun and slid it back into its holster. “That's why.” He shook his head and turned to look at Faraday who dropped a hand to his own gun holster. “Hey now. Is that any way to treat your savior?”

Faraday squinted at him and slowly dropped his hand from his gun holster. “You saved me... What do you want?”

To his surprise, the man chuckled and shook his head. “Glad we got that outta the way. My name is Sam Chisolm,” he began, stepping forward to offer out his hand. Faraday took Sam's hand and shook it carefully. “I'm lookin' to recruit you for somethin'.”

The laugh that escaped Faraday's mouth couldn't be stopped and he withdrew his hand to cover his mouth. “I'm sorry,” he chuckled. “You just said that so seriously I couldn't... I can't...” He continued to laugh and he averted his gaze, not wanting to meet Sam's eyes as he laughed at him. The man saved his life and he returned it by laughing at him.

He saw Sam shrug out of the corner of his eye. “It's not the end of the world,” Sam said easily. “But as I said. I need your help, and as you now owe me a life debt... I see no reason why you can't.” At those words, Faraday sobered up quickly and met Sam's eyes again. Sam smiled warmly, his stance that of a man who knew he'd won.

Again, Faraday burst into laughter. “Sam Chisolm, you sly bastard,” he laughed, reaching out to slap Sam on the shoulder. “I like you. What's the job?”

Sam stepped forward and Faraday slid his arm around Sam's shoulders, falling into step with him.

“Just your usual,” Sam explained as they headed out of the small town. “Lookin' to kill a powerful man, take his caps, make peoples' lives easier.” He flashed Faraday a smile. “An' judgin' by how you and that Raider seemed to get along, you won't mind killing a few more in this powerful man's employ.”

Faraday squeezed Sam's shoulder and withdrew his arm. “Sam,” he started, “I am always up for Raider huntin'.”

Sam nodded. “Good. I hope you don't mind goin' for Gunners too. This here is the whole shebang of Commonwealth scum. Raiders and Gunners. Surprised this powerful man hasn't somehow coerced Super Mutants to work for him, too.” Sam shook his head at this and Faraday grinned.

“Like I said, Sam. I am always up for Raider huntin'. Gunners, too. But I must ask...” Faraday licked his lips for a moment. “Who is rich enough to keep Raiders and Gunners from killin' each other?”

The smile Sam gave him felt cold, and Faraday repressed a shiver. The man whose life they were going for had no idea what was coming for him; all the calculated anger that came from behind that smile made Faraday even happier that Sam had saved him and not the Raider.

“His name is Bartholomew Bogue,” Sam said simply, offering no further explanation on how he knew him or why they were really going after him.

Faraday clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “We're goin' on a Bogue hunt,” he chanted, and he and Sam chuckled.

**Author's Note:**

> this only took forever, but i'm super satisfied with how it came out! i could not nail the intro no matter how much i tried. i wanted to give a background on Faraday's sort of stealing habits, esp. in the context of this entire au but... it doesn't fit here completely, so there will definitely be more about that later. and the Synth thing... i'm looking forward to exploring that accusation a bit more, too!
> 
> as always, please let me know what you think! either via the comments or [on tumblr!](http://conspiracieys.tumblr.com/ask)


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